Dawes County, Nebraska · Chadron
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With 53% of homes built before 1960 and about 76 hard-freeze nights a year, frozen and split pipes are a leading winter risk in the county.
May brings the most downpours to Dawes County, part of 1 heavy-rain days a year. Check the sump first.
Backups often follow heavy rain, which Dawes County gets about 1 days a year, when storm water overloads sewer mains and pushes up through the lowest drain in the house.
In Dawes County, 2.17 inches fell on the wettest day of the 2015–2024 record. Storms like that, and ice dams in snowy winters, cause most roof leaks.
16% of occupied homes in Dawes County heat mainly with wood or propane, below the Nebraska county median of 19.4%.
Muggy summer nights, lows of 65°F or more, come about 3 times a year in Dawes County. Mold after a leak spreads fastest from June through August.
Local risk profile
Dawes County covers 1,396 square miles of northwest Nebraska, with about 8,140 residents and 4,037 homes. The county seat is Chadron, and Crawford and Whitney round out the largest towns. It has some of the oldest housing in the state: the median home went up in 1958.
49/100 Water Damage Risk Index: Elevated Dawes County ranks 50 of 93 Nebraska counties. See the statewide ranking and method.The three factors where Dawes County ranks highest compared with other Nebraska counties.
Dawes County gets more hard-freeze nights than most of Nebraska. It averaged 167 freezing nights a year over 2015–2024, 76 of them at 20°F or colder, cold enough for pipes in outside walls and crawl spaces to freeze. Among 93 Nebraska counties that's 7th.
The longest cold spell was straight 13 days without the temperature rising above freezing, ending in January 2018. The coldest night reached about -23°F on January 14, 2024. Burst pipes usually show up when a spell like that breaks and the ice thaws.
Most freezing nights fall from November to April, peaking in December. Disconnect garden hoses and shut off outdoor spigots before the first hard frost, and keep the heat at 55°F or higher if you'll be away.
Freezing nights typically start around Oct 7 and end around May 10.
Dawes gets fewer downpours than most Nebraska counties, but they still fill basements. The county gets about 17 inches of rain and melted snow a year, with 1 days of an inch or more (92nd of 93). Those downpours cluster in April, May and October, when sump pumps and gutters are tested hardest. The wettest day on record brought 2.17 inches on May 10, 2015. The worst three-day stretch dropped 2.97 inches, ending May 11, 2015, the kind of soaking that overwhelms sump pumps and storm sewers.
About 136 days a year swing from below freezing at night to above freezing by day. Those freeze-thaw cycles feed ice dams on roofs, open cracks in foundations and driveways, and stress pipes that are already marginal.
Housing
Roughly 78% of the county's housing was built before 1980. That puts Dawes among the oldest housing stocks of Nebraska's 93 counties.
The mix runs from 53% built before 1960 to 7% built since 2000, so older neighborhoods bring aging pipe while newer subdivisions bring failed appliance lines and water heaters.
7% of homes are manufactured or mobile homes, above the Nebraska county median of 5%. Their water lines run under the floor behind the skirting, so a torn skirt or failed heat tape freezes them faster than lines in a site-built house.
Renters occupy 38% of homes. If you rent, the building is usually the landlord's to repair, but your belongings are only covered by renters insurance.
Beyond water
Dawes County averages 3 warm, muggy nights a year (lows of 65°F or more) and gets the most rain in May. The EPA recommends keeping indoor humidity below 60%, ideally 30 to 50%. Basements can pass 60% on their own in summer, so a dehumidifier matters even without a leak, and anything wet should be dried within 24 to 48 hours.
Mold remediation: what to expectMain heating fuel in Dawes County's occupied homes: 49% utility gas, 32% electric, 15% propane and 2% wood. Most homes here heat with gas or electricity, so cooking and electrical faults are the likelier fire sources. Even a contained kitchen fire can send soot through the ductwork to every room.
Fire and smoke cleanup: first stepsCoverage
Calls connect to restoration companies that work across Dawes County. The largest communities by population:
Population from ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates. Townships and unincorporated areas are covered too.
Nearby
Every neighboring county gets more pipe-freeze nights than Dawes. All of its neighbors see more heavy-rain days. Sheridan County has the oldest housing nearby, with 87% of homes built before 1980.
By the numbers
| Factor | Dawes | Nebraska median | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homes built before 1960 | 53% | 49% | 31 of 93 |
| Homes built before 1980 | 78% | 73% | 29 of 93 |
| Homes built 2000 or later | 6.6% | 12% | 83 of 93 |
| Manufactured or mobile homes | 7.3% | 5% | 24 of 93 |
| Vacant homes | 15% | 14% | 46 of 93 |
| Wood or propane heat | 16% | 19% | 63 of 93 |
| Nights at 20°F or colder | 76/yr | 64/yr | 7 of 93 |
| Days with 1 inch+ of rain | 1/yr | 5.1/yr | 92 of 93 |
| Freeze-thaw days | 136/yr | 112/yr | 10 of 93 |
| Muggy nights (65°F+) | 3/yr | 27/yr | 83 of 93 |
Rank 1 is the highest value. Bars run from the lowest to the highest Nebraska county; the tick marks the median; orange means higher water damage risk than the median, green means lower.
Questions
Peak risk months in Dawes County: freezing from November to April, heavy rain in April, May and October.
Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024 5-year estimates (2020-2024); weather from NOAA nClimGrid-Daily county averages (EpiNOAA), 2015–2024, averaged across the county; county boundaries from Census TIGER. Reviewed 2026-10-21. Methodology